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Stewart hanged himself with bedsheet, authorities say

Michael Tarm

In this Feb. 14, 2013 photo, Art Bilek, executive vice president of the Chicago Crime Commission, left, announces that Joaquin ``El Chapo'' Guzman, a drug kingpin in Mexico, has been named Chicago's Public Enemy No. 1, during a news conference in Chicago. Looking on is Jack Riley, right, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Chicago and Peter Bensinger, former Administrator of the United States DEA. Ruthless drug cartels have long been the nation’s No. 1 supplier of illegal drugs, but in the past, their operatives rarely ventured beyond the border. A wide-ranging Associated Press review of federal court cases and government drug-enforcement data, plus interviews with many top law enforcement officials, indicate the groups have begun deploying agents from their inner circles to the U.S. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Drug cartel agents 'taking over our neighborhoods'

Last updated Monday, April 1, 2013 - 9:48am

CHICAGO -- Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States - an emboldened presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the world's most lucrative narcotics market and maximize profits.

Crime, Drug smuggling, International Read more Comments

(M. Spencer Green/The Associated Press file)
Former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant Drew Peterson leaves the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., in May, 2009, after his arraignment on charges of first-degree murder in the 2004 death of his former wife Kathleen Savio.

Jury convicts Drew Peterson of 3rd wife’s death

Michael Tarm The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, September 6, 2012 - 3:19pm

JOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson, the swaggering former suburban Chicago police officer who generated a media storm after his much-younger fourth wife vanished in 2007, was convicted Thursday of murdering his third wife in a case based mainly on secondhand hearsay statements from the two women.

Peterson, 58, sat stoically looking straight ahead and did not react as the verdict was read. Several of his third wife’s relatives gasped before hugging each other as they cried quietly in the courtroom.

Crime, Murder, Courts, Trial, National Read more Comments

Jennifer Hudson performs “I Will Always Love You” during the In Memoriam portion of the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. More accustomed to walking a red carpet in Vera Wang ballgowns, performing at the Grammy Awards or autographing her new book about weight-loss, the Oscar-winning actress and singer’s next public appearance won’t be glamorous. The starlet will be under a whole different spotlight in April 2012 in Chicago when she is expected to attend the triple murder trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and nephew. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Hudson star power to complicate murder trial

Caryn Rousseau, Michael Tarm The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 9, 2012 - 11:16am

CHICAGO — Accustomed to wearing Vera Wang gowns on red carpets, singing at the Grammys or autographing her weight-loss memoir, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will take on a new role under a very different spotlight — in Chicago’s drab criminal courts building at the trial of the man charged with murdering her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

Murder, Court, Jennifer Hudson, Trial, National Read more Comments

(PAUL BEATY/The Associated Press) Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his wife Patti leave their home heading to federal court for his sentencing hearing in Chicago, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Blagojevich was convicted earlier this year on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat.

With last word, Blagojevich to ask for mercy

Don Babwin, Michael Tarm The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 8:52am

CHICAGO — With years behind bars at stake, disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday gets a final shot at trying to persuade a federal judge to show him mercy.

Crime, Blagojevich, Corruption, Prison, National Read more Comments

(Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press) A store employee holds packages Oscar Meyer wieners, a Kraft product, left, and Ball Park franks, a Sara Lee Corp. product, at a local Dahl's grocery store in Des Moines, Iowa. The nation’s two largest hot dog makers are taking their legal beefs to federal court in Chicago, where a judge will determine whether either broke false-advertising laws when boasting about their top-dog status.

Legal beef: Sara Lee, Kraft escalate wiener war

Michael Tarm The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, August 15, 2011 - 7:08am

CHICAGO — The nation's two largest hot dog makers are taking their legal beefs Monday to federal court in Chicago, where a judge will determine whether Oscar Mayer or Ball Park franks broke false-advertising laws in their efforts to become top dog.

Business, Corporations, National Read more Comments

(The Associated Press)
A snowplow, almost hidden in the snow, drives westbound along Interstate 70 Tuesday in Columbia, Mo. Earlier Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Transportation closed Interstate 70 between Kansas City and St. Louis because of the storm. Slideshow at www.standard.net

Monster blizzard hits Texas en route to battered East Coast

Michael Tarm, The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - 9:40pm

CHICAGO -- A winter weather colossus roared into the nation's heartland Tuesday, laying down a paralyzing punch of dangerous ice and whiteout snow that served notice from Texas to Maine that the storm billed as the worst in decades was living up to the hype so far.

Snowstorm, Weather Read more Comments

Federal judges consider high school sports case

Michael Tarm, The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 6:01pm

CHICAGO -- A Wisconsin case that could have nationwide implications for how reporters cover and how parents watch high school sports is making its way through the courts, with crucial constitutional arguments taking place Friday in federal court in Chicago.

The case pits community newspapers against the association that oversees high school sports in Wisconsin. Fans in many states rely on community newspapers for news about high school teams, and the newspapers say they need easy, unencumbered access to sporting events to provide that coverage. But the association says it can't survive if it can't raise money by signing exclusive contracts with a single video-production company for streaming its tournaments.

The newspapers argued Friday before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of press should enable them to put such publicly funded events online as they see fit, free of charge.

Prep Sports, Sports Read more Comments